


the more hollow time

by moriphyte



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-19
Updated: 2015-12-19
Packaged: 2018-05-07 07:55:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5449043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moriphyte/pseuds/moriphyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Time goes faster the more hollow it is. Lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don’t stop at your station.”<br/>-Carlos Ruiz Zafón</p><p>Two fucked up kids meet at a train station in the rain</p>
            </blockquote>





	the more hollow time

**Author's Note:**

> Dave and Terezi sit at the train station in the rain and talk about some fucked up shit  
> 

Your life is shit  
It's raining like some asshole turned a shower on in the sky and you pull up the hood of your red sweatshirt and shove your hands in your pockets as you duck under the cover of the train station  
You plop your ass down on the damp metal bench and watch the rain as it makes a haze around you, blurring the blue of the lightning through the dirty, graffiti covered glass of the train station  
The summer air is heavy but cold and you're shaking from your place on the cold metal bench  
You sigh and let your head fall back against the cold glass  
You stare up at the roof of the train station, covered in spray painted curse words and dicks just like the walls, and think that maybe you shouldn't have left.  
You do this a lot, leaving your apartment in the middle of the night and not going back for days, but it doesn't make it any less stupid  
You've figured out by now that you used to do it just to see if your Bro would even give a shit (he didn't) but now you just do it because as useless as it is it gives you some control in your life  
You know this time is just the same as the others. You'll leave and come back in a few days and he won't even ask you where you went.  
As you get older you think that you want to actually leave and not come back. You're thinking more and more about actually leaving and not going back.  
You have a place to stay, your sister Rose just moved in with her girlfriend in an apartment not far from the station, that's actually where you were walking before you stopped  
You know you're not actually going to leave tonight, that's why you're here in the rain at this shitty ass train station instead of in the safety and warmth of your sisters apartment  
You don't know why you can't go yet. It doesn't feel right, not now at least, and if there's one thing you've learned its that your feelings are usually right  
There's a sound from the end of the train station and you swing back forward so that your elbows are resting on your knees and turn your head in the direction of the noise  
At the far end of the train station the small dark shape of a person stands against the blue of the lighting and the haze of the rain  
You quickly turn your head back to face straight again and keep your head down under your hood but as the person gets closer you can't help but watch them  
By the time they are close enough to see its too late to get up and leave  
Up close you can see that the person is smaller than you thought. They're wearing leggings under an incredibly oversized red parka with a hood that falls down over their face, hiding everything above their nose. When you look down at their feet you almost don't believe it when what you find yourself looking at is a little pair of red crocs.  
Shit, haven't seen those in a while.  
They have those plastic things in the holes that look like little dragons and that just makes them cooler  
You already like this person, whoever they are  
When you look back up from their feet you realize that they have stopped and now they're sitting down on the other end of the bench, not too close but not too far  
You wonder what someone else is doing out here in the rain this late at night, there aren't any trains running through this station at this time of night so it must just be someone trying to get out of the rain  
Part of you wants to talk to them but you know that's stupid so you don't  
Apparently they thought the same thing but when they speak you think they must either be stupid or they just don't care  
"I like your shoes" they say, voice high pitched and scratchy and tired but you can hear the smile in it  
You look down at your feet in your red dick covered vans and then at them  
"thanks, I like your crocs"  
You see their small shoulders shake with silent laughter and then they turn to face you  
From what you can see the person is a girl about your age and her lips are spread in just about the most terrifying smile you've ever seen  
Her eyes are still covered though, and all you take in is the small split in the left side of her upper lip  
"they're good for the rain" she says, kicking her little feet on the wet concrete  
"Yeah, these ones aren't so good for that" you say, looking down at your soaking wet shoes  
The shittily drawn sharpie dicks are starting to wash out  
"Maybe you should invest in a pair of these, I highly recommend them" she says  
You laugh, "yeah, you would think I would have already"  
She laughs, "so you find yourself outside alone in the rain often?"  
"Yeah" you say  
She stops smiling and looks at you, or at least you think she does, it's hard to tell because of the hood  
She tips her head to the side and bites her lip, "really?"  
"Really" you say  
She doesn't say anything, just bites at her lip, "yeah, this isn't my first time either"  
"Well at least I'm not the only one" you say, laughing a little  
"So may I ask why you're out here so often?" she asks  
"What if I say no" you say  
"You won't say no"  
"How do you know that? I pride myself on being an utter enigma to the outside world" you say  
"No ones an enigma to me" she says  
"Why do you want to know?" You ask  
"I'm curious" she says  
"That's it? There's no other reason?"  
"Nope, I just want to know"  
You sigh and turn your head to look from her to the ground  
"Just getting out of my apartment" you say with a shrug, forcing casual  
"Why?" She asks  
"Man you do not hold back with the questions, do you?" You ask  
She grins, "nope"  
You're silent again before you speak  
"My bro just kinda sucks ass balls" you say  
"Ass balls?" She asks, smiling  
"Yeah, ass balls" you say  
She bites her lip and hums in thought, "I like it, you're pretty cool you know that" she says  
A surge of happiness goes through your whole body and you try not to smile, "you know it, my cool is over the legal limit of cool, in driving under the influence, of cool, my cool is up to fuckin illegal levels, the cops are comin for me, that's why I'm really here, shh, no tellin" you say  
She laughs, "you're pretty funny too, so what's your name, coolkid?"  
"Dave Strider's the name, what's your game?" You say, extending a hand  
She grins and takes your hand with her small one, shaking it firmly, "Terezi Pyrope"  
You smile, "nice to meet you, TZ" you say  
"Who said you could call me TZ?" She asks but she's smiling  
"You can call me Coolkid, I can call you TZ" you say  
She nods her head, "fair enough"  
"So what's your deal?" You ask  
"What?"  
"Your deal, why are you here?" You ask  
She stiffens and you see her small hands tighten on where her fingers curl around the sleeves of her oversized parka  
"It's cool if you don't want to tell me, I just thought since you let me talk to you about my shit I should let you talk to me, but that's only if you want to" you say  
She takes a shaky breath  
"No, it's okay, I'll talk. May as well at this point"  
You nod and stay silent, waiting patiently for her to speak  
She lifts her head and faces you again  
Then her hands take the sides of her large hood and pull it back  
It reveals a head of short black hair and a pair of milky almond eyes, you think she must be blind, but what she meant for you to see was the large blue and purple bruises growing on her face. And now the split lip makes sense. There's one over her left eye and another on the same side on her forehead around a cut covered in dried blood. There's a cut on her cheek as well and on the opposite side of her face there's a bruise on her jaw line  
You don't ask, you let her answer  
"I pissed him off" she says, like that's just how it is  
"Pissed who off?" You ask  
"My friend...with benefits? my boyfriend?...I don't even know what the fuck we are at this point" she says matter of factly  
You're quiet for a minute and you're thinking about all the matching bruises you've had on your skin, that you still have  
"...well fuck" you say finally  
She lets out a breathe of laughter and smiles tiredly, "yeah, pretty much"  
"So what the fuck happened?" You ask  
She shrugs, "I told you, I pissed him off. He's gonna be way more pissed about this though"  
She presses the palm of her hand against her bruised eye  
"Fuck this was so stupid" she says  
"I don't know, doesn't sound stupid to me" you say  
"He's gonna flip" she says  
"He do that a lot?" You ask  
"Yeah"  
"What happened this time?" You ask  
She laughs into a sigh and shakes her head, shrugging her shoulders, "just got into a fight"  
"About what?"  
"Now you're the one asking a lot of questions, Mr.Strider" she says, laughing  
Then she sighs, "he was high...or drunk...or...something, I don't even know. He was fucking with me, like he always does, and I told him to get the fuck off and he went off on me. We argued, I dared him to hit me and he did. And then he kept hitting me"  
"Oh...well fuck" you say after a long pause  
She laughs like its the most normal thing in the world, "yeah, that's about the right word for it"  
"So...why leave now? If he does this shit a lot I mean" you ask  
She shrugs, "I don't know, it's not the first time I have. I guess I just didn't want to deal with him and was feeling stupid enough to not care"  
"You gonna go back?" You ask  
She laughs and shakes her head, "always do"  
"Me too"  
"Why?" She asks  
You shrug, "I don't know, probably the same reason as you, I leave for a while but I always come back, my bro knows that"  
"Maybe this time you shouldn't" she says  
"Probably, doesn't mean I'm gonna though" you say  
"Maybe this time I shouldn't"  
You're silent for a second, "why the fuck not, I don't know this guy but he sounds like a dick"  
"Where am I supposed to go?" She asks  
"I don't know, family?"  
"My mom is dead and my sister is in Korea"  
"What about friends?"  
"I've got a sister, we're not actually related but we lived together before I moved in with him"  
"Why not stay with her?"  
"We're not really talking right now, plus she'd be pissed if she knew what I let him do to me this time and I really don't feel like dealing with it"  
"What about you, you got anywhere to go?" She asks, turning to you  
You shrug, "yeah I guess, my sister and her girlfriend live around here"  
"Well why not stay with them then" she asks  
"I don't know, I have another sister and a brother and I've got friends but I just can't"  
"I think you should go" she says  
"You know what, fuck it, I think I will"  
She smiles, "good, I gotta say I'm a little disappointed not to have someone to sleep with in the train station but you should get out of there, go stay with your sister"  
"Why don't you just come with me?"  
"You've only known me for like half an hour, how do you know I'm not gonna like steal all your shit in the middle of the night and draw dicks on your face"  
"I don't know, you seem pretty cool, it's just not something I think you would do but hey maybe I'm way off"  
"You really want me to go with you?"  
"Yeah, if it means you not having to go back to your...uh, whatever he is's, place"  
She bites her lip, "I should go back, I could probably still get back without him thinking I left to do more than take a walk, the longer I stay away the more pissed he'll be which just means it will be worse when I get back"  
"Or you could just not go back" you say  
She laughs, "I wish, he would make me come back eventually, he always does"  
"You should come crash with me, if we decide to actually stay away we can both go our places and get the rest of our shit, he won't fuck with you if I'm there right" you say  
She laughs, "you don't know him"  
"Fuck him, let's go, I'll kick his ass, I'll kick anyone's ass, I'll kick my own ass, I'll fight him in the Denny's parking lot"  
She hums in though and then shrugs, "why the fuck not, fuck it"  
"I'll text my sister" you say  
You pull out your phone and wipe away the haze that has grown on the screen  
You open pesterchum and pester Rose

  
**turntechGodhead** started pestering **tentecledTherapist** at 11:43 pm  
TG: yo rose  
TG: I left Bro's  
TG: again  
TG: I met someone at the train station who needs a place to stay  
TG: which is the only reason I'm asking and not just sleeping here  
TG: so is it cool if we stay with you  
TG: she's cool, I promise  
TT: hmm...what?  
TT: Dave?  
TG: sup sis  
TT: uhg  
TT: I was sleeping you ass  
TT: are you okay?  
TG: yeah I'm cool  
TG: so can I come stay with you?  
TT: oh so you're finally taking my advise  
TG: I told you I'm only doing it because I've got someone with me  
TT: okay, whatever you say  
TT: come over whenever, I'll wait up  
TG: thanks Rosie  
TT: of course my dear brother, I will be waiting  
**turntechGodhead** ceased pestering **tentecledTherapist** at 11:48 pm

  
You put your phone back into the pocket of your sweatshirt and turn to Terezi  
"She said she'd wait up" you say  
"I don't know about you but I'm hungry as fuck, you wanna stop at the diner on the way?"  
Terezi grins, "fuck yeah I do"  
You stand and she hops up onto the wet pavement beside you  
"It's not too far, probably like 15 minutes, but we're gonna get fuckin soaked" you say  
She shrugs, "as long as it's warm"  
"Hell yeah it is, my sisters a priss, it has to be at least 65"  
"She chose a bad city to live in if she doesn't like cold" she says  
"Oh no, she likes cold, loves it actually, she just wants to be able to come home and be warm"  
When you see the lights of the diner down the street you both walk a little faster, sloshing across the wet pavement  
She grabs your hand and you run across the deserted street and stop at the door of the diner  
You push through the door and stumble onto the damp carpet inside  
You seat yourselves in a corner by the window  
The diner is almost entirely empty  
You order a grilled cheese and some shitty watery diner coffee, your favorite, and she gets french toast  
By the time you're done you've had three cups of coffee and there's maple syrup all over her face and you're both laughing  
This is the happiest you've been in a long time, sitting in this diner with a girl you just met who has the same bruises as you and you both know you're fucked up but being together somehow makes it better  
You leave the diner some time around 1:00 am and make it to Rose's within five minutes  
Rose looks tired when she opens the door with her pale hair pulled back into a baby bun and a mug of what looks like tea in her hand, but she smiles at you and pulls you into a hug  
She smells like lavender, and cigarettes, but most of all she smells like home  
"You're soaked" Kanaya says from behind Rose, having woken up at the noise of the door  
You smile at her, "hey Kanaya"  
"Hello Dave" she looks passed you to Terezi who smiles at her  
"This is Terezi" you say to both your sister and Kanaya  
"Nice to meet you" they say  
"How did you end up meeting in the rain in the middle of the night?" Kanaya asks as she and Rose let you through the door  
"We were both hanging at the train station" you say  
"But it's been raining for hours, and it's 1 in the morning"  
"I've learned to stop asking questions about Dave's life decisions a long time ago" Rose says  
"No you haven't, you ask me all the time and then offer advice I don't want" you say  
"Hey, I'm your sister, it's my job"  
"Roxy never does it" you say  
"That's because Roxy has Dirk to worry about"  
Kanaya gets you dry clothes while Rose leads you inside  
Once you've changed Rose and Kanaya go to bed and you curl up in the floor with a pile of blankets  
"Hey coolkid" she says  
"Yeah?"  
"Thanks for not letting me go back there"  
"Same for you" you say  
"This is a lot better, even if we're sleeping on the floor" she says  
"We were gonna be sleeping in the train station" you say  
"True, but even that's better than that place"  
You laugh through your nape and shake your head, "this is so fucked up"  
"Yeah but so are we" she says  
"Yeah, so are we"


End file.
